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Baron Castle
Baron Castle is a location in the world of Final Fantasy IV. It is the ruling seat of the kingdom of Baron, ruled by the King of Baron. Notable residents include the King's adopted son Cecil Harvey, Lord Captain of the Red Wings air fleet, Kain Highwind, Commander of the Baron Dragoons, and Rosa Joanna Farrell, a powerful White Mage. Neighboring castles include Damcyan to the north and Fabul to the northeast. The Castle of Baron serves as the site plot-critical climaxes in Final Fantasy IV and The After Years, as its ruling powers are often directly embroiled in whatever conflict the world is facing, and the castle serves as the antagonist's initial base of operations in both games. Final Fantasy IV begins at the castle and returning to it is a major plot point for the first part of the game. In The After Years, suspicion and concern about Cecil and Baron prompt many of the scattered party members to set out to the castle to investigate. __TOC__ Story ''Final Fantasy IV Cecil, captain of the Red Wings, returns to Baron Castle after attacking Mysidia and seizing their Crystal of Water. Cecil hands the Crystal over to Baigan, but questions the King on why he would order an attack on innocents. The King, displeased with Cecil questioning orders and taking it as a sign of insubordination, strips him of his rank and orders him to deliver a Carnelian Signet to Mist if Cecil wishes to earn his favor again. When Kain attempts to defend Cecil he is told to accompany him. .]] After Cecil becomes a Paladin and returns to Baron to claim an airship to challenge the Red Wings and their new captain, Golbez, on equal terms, he sneaks into the castle and discovers Baigan has become a monster and is a servant of Golbez. After killing him Cecil confronts the King, who reveals he is Cagnazzo, an Archfiend and servant of Golbez, who killed the true King some time ago and has been impersonating him so Golbez could use Baron to collect the Crystals. Cecil kills Cagnazzo, and Cid Pollendina, the master airship builder of the kingdom unearths his airship ''Enterprise. However, the Mysidian mages Palom and Porom are forced to petrify themselves to save Cecil and his other allies from a trap set by Cagnazzo. The party returns to the castle two other times in the game for short visits - once when Rosa teleports the party out of the collapsing Tower of Zot, and later when they need Cid's workers to attach a hook to the Enterprise so it can pick up and transport the Hovercraft. At the end of the game, Cecil and Rosa are wed and named King and Queen of Baron, inviting the other party members to come to their coronation at the castle. ''Final Fantasy IV -Interlude- After having a dream at the start of the game, Cecil is awoken by Rosa due to him flailing about like he was having a nightmare. Rosa tells Cecil that today is the ceremony to celebrate the reconstruction of Damcyan and the Red Wings are waiting for them. Soon after, they both embark on the airship and fly towards Damcyan. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years At the beginning of the game the castle is attacked by monsters, and Cecil, Rosa and Cid fight them off before Cecil orders Cid to take Rosa to safety on the ''Enterprise. At this time Bahamut descends from the reappeared second moon, a Mysterious Girl riding on him. Cecil is defeated by Bahamut, but the Mysterious Girl does not kill him as she has a use for him. Cecil is then brainwashed to be used as her servant, and the Mysterious Girl uses Baron Castle as her base of operations from which to deploy the Red Wings to gather the Crystals for her. When Ceodore and a Hooded Man return to the castle to investigate the attack, the Hooded Man finds Cecil acting suspicious in the throne room, and takes Ceodore from the castle worried something is amiss. Later, Kain follows the Mysterious Girl into the castle, and pledges his allegiance to her if she allows him to duel and kill Cecil once he gets the Crystals for her. After Kain seizes the Crystals from Damcyan and Fabul, he captures Rosa from Damcyan and races back to Baron to kill Cecil before her eyes. Ceodore, Cid, Edward and the Hooded Man pursue them aboard the Enterprise and chase Kain into the castle. In the antechamber, they catch up to Kain and Rosa and the Hooded Man confronts Kain. At this time it is revealed that Kain is actually Dark Kain, Kain's darkness and repressed desires incarnate, and the Hooded Man is the true Kain who has been seeking him to slay him. Kain duels Dark Kain and emerges victorious, absorbing him into his heart against as he's learned it is wrong to shut away his dark past since it will always be part of who he is. In recognition of his trials, the spirit of Kluya on the Mt. Ordeals shrine transforms Kain into a Holy Dragoon. The group continues on to the throne room and confront Cecil and the Mysterious Girl. Cecil battles the group, using the Mysterious Girl's power to call Odin to fight them as well. However, the spirit of the King of Baron awakens within Odin, recognizes the party as his "children of Baron" and refuses to harm them, turning on Cecil and breaking the Mysterious Girl's control over him. At this time Rydia, Luca and Edge Geraldine rush into the throne room with the Man in Black, who reveals his identity to the group as Golbez, returned to help them fight off the Mysterious Girl. The combined group engages the girl and kills her, but more Mysterious Girls appear revealing there are many copies of her, and they leave with the Crystals. The united party takes Cecil to the Lunar Whale and departs for the True Moon to find the Girls and get the Crystals back. At the end of the game Cecil and Rosa again sit on the throne of Baron, Kain is appointed the new captain of the Red Wings, and he and Ceodore head out with Luca and Cid on an expedition. Sidequests Odin In Final Fantasy IV, the party can enter the eastern tower's basement to find the spirit of the King of Baron on a throne in a small chamber. After visiting the Feymarch, Odin will battle the party to determine their strength, and if defeated will allow Rydia to summon him. Locations ;Throne Room After Cecil raids Mysidia and the Water Crystal has been obtained, Baigan will lead him to the castle's throne room. The king procures the crystal from Cecil, but Cecil questions his real motives. At this, the king is angered and relieves Cecil of his captainship, sending Cecil to Mist instead. Kain steps in to try to appease the king in vain, and is sent along with Cecil. After Cagnazzo's defeat, the two sentinels guarding the empty throne promises to Cecil that "a fiend will never again be allowed to befoul the throne." ;Black mage lab It is the chamber located just before the throne room, to the left. Baron's black mages study in a room opposite the white mages' lab. A seemingly incompetent mage attempts to turn Cecil into a pig with the mis-spoken, "Piggy!" but ends up casting Mini instead. After the events of Mount Ordeals, a black mage will comment about Meteor and how "the tomes spoke true." ;White mage lab It is the chamber located just before the throne room, to the right. Baron's white mages study in a room opposite the black mages' lab. Here a mage informs Cecil of the reasons why Rosa chose to follow in her mother's footsteps and become a white mage. ;Dungeon The player can visit Baron Castle's dungeon in the beginning of the game, which is located just before the West Tower. The dungeon is guarded by a sentinel. Black and White Mages from Mysidia are shown imprisoned, but after Cagnazzo's defeat, the cells will be empty. The guard then will also tell the player that he awaits the day when dungeons will no longer be needed. ;West Tower The entrance is just right beside the infirmary's. It is a treasureless part of the castle, and only serves as a way to Cecil's bedroom, which is in the highest floor. ;Cecil's Bedchamber Located in the castle's west tower, a number of events happen here. In the beginning of the game, Cecil takes a rest after the Mysidian raid and is approached by Rosa, who confronts him about his doubts. To escape the Tower of Zot, Rosa Teleports the party here, and Kain also hands over the Key of Magma to the party before they head to Agart. This room is also shown in the ending cutscene, just right before Cecil and Rosa's wedding, when Cecil claims to hear his brother's voice. ;Infirmary The infirmary is accessible by the door on the right of the West Tower's entrance. It wards two Baron soldiers, and it is also where some other soldiers are talking around a table. ;Observation Platform Baron Castle's Observation Platform is accessible from the West Tower, then to the castle's Infirmary. Before the events of the Giant of Babil, it is vacant and unguarded. The HP+50% augment will be obtained here after the giant's attack, from a patrolling soldier who asks Cecil to return alive. ;East Tower In the first part of the game, this part of the castle is guarded by a sentinel. It is inaccessible before the party defeats Cagnazzo, but the tower contains a lot of treasure chests the player can then plunder. ;East Tower - B2 In Baron Castle's 1F, given that the player has defeated Cagnazzo, the sentinel guarding the treasure trove will inform them that he hears a voice very much like the late king's, coming from the east tower's basement. If the party tries to run through the east tower's B2, they will be stopped halfway, as an "unknown force" blocks them. Unless the player has earned the right to summon both Leviathan and Asura back in the Feymarch, they cannot trigger a scene. The scene shows the late king of Baron, and he reveals that his spirit has lived on to become the summon Odin. Should the player choose to face him and emerge victorious, Odin can now be called by Rydia. He then gives his blessings to Cecil. Treasure ''Final Fantasy IV ''(Note, in the beginning of the game, players can only get 1 Cure1, 1 Tent, and 300 GP in the SNES version. In the DS version, this changes to 1 Ether, 1 Tent, and 480 Gil). ''Final Fantasy IV -Interlude- *480 gil *Dry Ether *Tent Final Fantasy IV: The After Years Enemy formations Final Fantasy IV Final Fantasy IV: The After Years Prologue Kain's Tale *Dark Kain (Boss) The Crystals *Cecil, Odin (Boss) *Mysterious Girl (Boss) Music The background music that plays inside Baron Castle is called "Kingdom Baron". Gallery Category:Final Fantasy IV Locations Category:Castles Category:Final Fantasy IV: The After Years Locations